"An agreement made between the UCI and the owners of the Tour de France in late 2008 ties the right to enter the Grand Tours to the UCI World Ranking, starting in 2011. This World Ranking combines the ProTour with the results of the Historical races"

Well that certainly throws into light the importance of the UCI team rankings going forward. Teams will be compelled more than ever to perform well throughout the season instead of just cherry picking a couple of races and focusing only on the grand tours.

"What we are doing is raising the bar for ProTour teams. In doing so, one or two teams which are asking for licences to be renewed or to be granted for the first time will not meet the criteria. The rules state we can have up to 20 teams but, in continuing to raise the bar, it may mean that one or two teams may not get a licence."

Its curious that they don't say exactly with the higher standards will be for choosing the 20 teams.